He then began banging the door, calling for Dennis. But since the secret door was inside the cabinet in the hallway, at the far end of the house, there was a good chance Dennis would only hear him if he stood right outside the cabinet.
When he received no sign of anyone hearing him, Dan had to fight a strong urge to begin throwing himself at the door. It was way too solidly built, though, and he probably couldn’t break it down anyway.
Feeling an increasing sense of claustrophobia, Dan sat down at the bottom of the stairs and tried to think clearly. That’s when he noticed the gasoline fumes were starting to make him feel light-headed.
He’s been sitting here ever since, going over the options in his mind. The hope that Liv will somehow figure out that he’s in trouble and take it upon herself to lure the zombies away, then come back and climb down into the tunnel begins to seem still less likely as the minutes wear on. The same goes with help coming from the other end: Dan felt certain Dennis would come to his senses and return to let him out, but so far, that hasn’t happened.
He really meant it when he said I could stay down here and starve …
How about Dennis’s mother? Does she know about him? Had she known, she would probably have come to kill him by now. Then, on the other hand, maybe she would have simply left him to starve to death.
Whether she knew or not, the fact is that no one has been at the door since Dennis left. And if they simply decided to stay away, then what hope does Dan have of getting out of here?
He suddenly feels like crying and needs to fight back the tears. The wave of emotions comes not only from frustration and fear, but just as much from the thought of letting down the people he has lost. His family. His friends. William. Not to mention the thousands of other people who have died.
All of it will have been for nothing if Dan can’t find a way to get past this final step. If he can’t get into contact with Birgit and somehow convince her to go along with his idea.
“I’m sorry,” Dan whispers to the empty tunnel. “I messed up.”
He closes his eyes, a single, warm tear spilling over and running down his cheek. He doesn’t want to, but he can’t help but see the faces of his family once again. He can even hear them call his name. It sounds faint, far away, but still urgent.
“Dan! … Dan! … Can you hear me? … Dan? … You still down there?”
Dan opens his eyes.
The faces dissipate, and so does the voice calling. But only for two heartbeats. Then it comes again: “Dan! … Can you hear me?”
Dan jumps to his feet, almost tripping as he runs stumbling down the tunnel to the ladder and looks up at the well cover.
He can still hear the zombies clawing away on the other side, but he can also hear the voice calling for him, stronger now: “Hello! … Dan?”
“Liv?” he croaks, then clears his throat: “Liv! Is that you? I can hear you!”
FIFTEEN
“Dennis?”
Mom’s voice calls him awake, and he sits bolt upright, staring around in alarm. He finds himself on the couch in Holger’s living room. A warm sunlight is making its way in through the boarded-up windows.
“Why are you sleeping in here?”
Dennis turns his head to look at Mom standing there, fully dressed, her hair neatly combed, her blue eyes resting on him. She’s holding a basket full of clean laundry.
“I, uhm,” Dennis murmurs, wiping drool from the corner of his mouth. He was deep asleep just ten seconds ago, and his brain still hasn’t caught up. “I just … fell asleep, I guess.”
“You should have come downstairs with me,” Mom says, putting the basket down on the coffee table. “It’s not safe sleeping up here.”
“No, I know,” Dennis mutters, scratching his hair. He had this weird dream about someone trying to get inside the house, but he can’t quite remember it. “I meant to come down, I did, but—”
Then it all comes back to him in a flash.
He just sits there, open-mouthed for several seconds.
Mom doesn’t notice at first. She’s looking at the gun on the table. “And what about this? You just leave that thing lying around?”
Dennis is too shocked to reply.
All he can think of is Dan being down in the tunnel. Mom obviously hasn’t been down there, or she would have known. And she must also not have noticed the van out in the courtyard—which is probably thanks to Dennis.
After he slammed the door on Dan, he walked around the living room for ten minutes, thinking on how to deal with the situation. And he decided to try and keep it from Mom. But as soon as she woke up, she would check the cameras and see the van parked in the courtyard.
So, Dennis snuck down to the bunker and turned the camera showing the van. It was surprisingly easy; Holger had made it so that all cameras could be adjusted from the computer by simply marking it and then using the arrow keys.
Dennis spun the camera around less than half an inch, which was just enough for the van to not be seen, while at the same time, the camera still showed most of the courtyard. Mom probably wouldn’t even notice the angle had changed slightly.
Then he had gone back up to the house, listening by the cabinet. Dan had stopped banging and shouting now. Dennis felt a little better. And he went back to the living room, feeling suddenly exhausted as he lay down on the couch.
All of this flies through Dennis’s mind as he sits there.
“Dennis?” Mom’s voice calls him back again. “What’s
